National Aeronautics and Space Administration
JSC-REDUCEDGRAVITY@NASA.GOV

LETTER OF INTENT ......................................................................................................................................... 3
SUBMITTING THE PROPOSAL ........................................................................................................................ 3
COPY REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................................................................... 4
CREATING A PROPOSAL: ........................................................................................................................... 4
I. Technical Format ................................................................................................................................ 5
II. Experiment Safety Evaluation ........................................................................................................... 7
III. Outreach Plan ................................................................................................................................... 9
IV. Administrative Requirements ........................................................................................................ 10
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS ......................................................................................................................... 13
Proposal Evaluation Form Samples ......................................................................................................... 13
Experiment: ............................................................................................................................................. 13
TEDP - Technical Equipment Data Package............................................................................................. 13
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The Letter of Intent (LOI) is optional and marks the first level of communication the team makes with the program coordinator. The optional LOI serves as preliminary notice that the team plans to submit a proposal for consideration in the upcoming competition. Plans submitted in the LOI can be altered prior to submission of the formal proposal. Letters of Intent may be emailed or mailed to:
Lenell Allen, Ph.D.
CIPAIR National Project Manager
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Manager, Minority Education Initiatives
Education Office
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Mail Stop 180-109
Pasadena, California 91109-80990
Phone: (818) 393-5917
FAX: (818) 393-4977
Email: Lenell.Allen@jpl.nasa.gov
Template for LOI:
Institution Name -
Affiliated State Space Grant –
Team Lead Name, Email, & NASA MICI ID –
Faculty Advisor Name & NASA MICI ID –
Proposed Tie to NASA Research –
A proposal submitted for competition to the program must be presented in the required format, and received by the program coordinator by the specified deadline date. Teams that did not submit an LOI may submit proposals without penalty. Proposals received on-line after the posted deadline will not be reviewed.
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SECTION FORMAT REQUIRED
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
ELECTRONIC
COPY
1 electronic copy required in .pdf format
Please do not include scanned in images such as letters of endorsement, faculty endorsement letters, etc. in your electronic submission. These items should be mailed along with the paper copy of your proposal.
Electronic copy of proposal should be submitted in .pdf formation to
Lenell.Allen@jpl.nasa.gov
.
One complete copy that contains institution's and faculty's letters of endorsement
PAPER COPY
The copy should be in the required format and be securely assembled.
The proposal should be as complete as possible. Template sections that do not apply to your experiment should be included, but noted as "not applicable to this experiment." Do not omit sections.
 Mail to:
Sara Malloy
Mail Code AD4
NASA - Johnson Space
Center
2101 NASA Parkway
Houston, Texas 77058
 1 paper copy
COPY REQUIREMENTS - provide 1 paper copy and 1 electronic copy (.pdf). Electronic proposals received after the submission deadline will not be considered. Paper copies should be postmarked by the deadline.
Each team must submit 1 electronic copy of an original proposal for consideration and review. Each team must also mail one paper copy postmarked by the published deadline. Each proposal must be submitted in a four-section format containing the required sections in the order as listed: Technical,
Safety Evaluation, Outreach Plan, Administrative. A table addressing the components of each section, the required format, forms and samples (as available) is included. Note that any section component that does not specifically apply to the team's proposal should be noted as such. No template section or component should be skipped or omitted under any circumstance. We recommend printing the following information and making a notebook for easy reference.
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TEMPLATE SECTIONS
The technical section should include information on the experiment the team is proposing. The points awarded to this section by the reviewers are worth 70% of the overall total score; therefore, this section should include any information that a technical reviewer might find informative or instructive in understanding the aims and goals of the experiment. Evaluators ranking the proposal for its scientific merit will read only this section, so teams should be sure to address all relevant factors as listed below.
Section Format Required Additional Information
COVER PAGE
(Page 1)
 Heading should read “Minority
Servicing Institutions and

Community Colleges Flight Week”
 Title of the experiment
Topic area addressed
 Team name
 Team logo (optional)
 Academic institution name/address
 Designated student team contact name, e-mail address and phone number
 Faculty supervisor name, e-mail
 address and phone number
Each team member's name, role
(flyer, alternate flyer, faculty),
 academic year (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior), academic major, e-mail address, and NASA MICI ID.
Faculty advisor's / signature required at bottom




Team contact must be a student team member
SAMPLE:
MacPherson, Jennifer
(macpher@hotmail.com).
Flyer / Sophomore / Electrical
Engr
The statement at the bottom of the cover page indicates that the team's faculty advisor endorses the proposal being submitted. Additionally, the
Faculty Advisor Statement is required in the administrative section of the proposal.
You can register at http://www.NASAMICIconfere
nce.com
for a NASA MICI ID.
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
(Page 2)
 Table of Contents should reflect
 the arrangement of the proposal with sections clearly noted
Pages should be numbered
ADVISOR/
MENTOR
REQUEST
 Teams will be assigned a NASA technical mentor for this project.
 If your team is currently collaborating on your project with a technical point of contact at NASA, please list their name in this section.
However, this does not
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SYNOPSIS/
ABSTRACT
TEST OBJECTIVES
TEST
DESCRIPTION guarantee that this individual will be offered an official role in the flight program.
 A brief (up to 300 words) summary that touches upon the elements of the research being proposed
 A description of the team's objectives in conducting the proposed experiment o describe the aim of the experiment being flown o o mention whether or not the experiment is a followup to a previous experiment state hypothesis
A brief, but detailed, description of the test being proposed. It should be written so that a practicing engineer or scientist can understand the experiment. Goals should be presented along with a description of the expected results.
 Expected or actual results for accompanying ground-based experiments should also be presented here. Describe the quantitative/qualitative data to be collected and how it will be

 analyzed.
What does the team expect to learn as a result of the experiment?
 Exactly how will the test be conducted?
Describe the quantitative/ qualitative data to be collected in flight and how it will be analyzed.
 Why is a reduced gravity environment necessary for this experiment?
Note on free-floating experiments:


No more than 2 free-floating experiments will be accepted for this flight week.
Considering this, your chances of acceptance to the program are increased if you design your research to be physically attached to the aircraft during flight.
Check the JSC User's Guide. http://jsc-aircraftops.jsc.nasa.gov/Reduced_Gra vity/docs/AOD_33897.pdf
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JUSTIFICATION
FOR FOLLOW-UP
FLIGHT
 Brief summary (less than 300 words) of any previous related experiment flown as part of the
Reduced Gravity Program which is directly related to the experiment being proposed. (A Phase II or Part
II experiment)
 Include information regarding any continuation, modification, or expansion of the previously flown experiment.


Clearly justify the need for re-flying the experiment.
What were the previous results?
What was the conclusion?
 Proposals for follow-up flights which do not include the justification summary will not be considered.
REFERENCES/
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Standard MLA format


 Referenced works should be cited in the text of the proposal and in a
"Bibliography."
Do not include Web sites.
References must be relevant!
Prefereably one-half of references should come from research journals
 SAMPLE:
Howell, John R. Fundamentals of Engineering
Thermodynamics, McGraw-
Hill, 1992.
Example of how the technical portion of your proposal will be EVALUATED http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.
gov/pdfs/KCtecheval.pdf
This section will be used by the Reduced Gravity Office test directors to confirm that each experiment is safe to handle on the ground, and safe to fly on the reduced gravity aircraft. When the team submits the proposal, it may not know exact dimensions or tensile strengths of parts and pieces planned for use; however, the team should be able to describe its plans to design, fabricate and operate the experiment in a safe manner. Information contained in this section will be used to form the basis of the Test Equipment Data Package submitted by selected teams in the weeks
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prior to flight. Flight safety is paramount; therefore, ranking in this category will place the team's experiment in a "SAFE/GO, CONDITIONAL, UNSAFE/ NO-GO" category. Experiments considered UNSAFE/NO-GO will not be considered for participation, in spite of technical or outreach merit.
Section Format Required Additional Information

EXPERIMENT
SAFETY
EVALUATION
Expectations for the Experiment Safety
Evaluation section of the proposal should be completed in accordance with the instructions contained in Experiment
Safety Evaluation guidelines provided by the Reduced Gravity Office.
 See Experiment Safety Evaluation
Guidelines (pdf) http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.n
asa.gov/pdfs/safetyguidelines.pdf
(note: ignore team composition description in this document)
 Provide as much information as is known at the time of proposal submission.
 Important questions to answer in the Experiment Safety Evaluation are: o What are you bringing to
Houston? o What do you need on the ground? o What are you doing with it in the aircraft?

The Experiment Safety
Evaluation (Ground and
Flight Operations) elements included in the proposal are considered to be the initial stage of the
Test Equipment Data
Package (TEDP) which is required of selected teams.
The information contained therein should give the reviewers an adequate picture of the team's experiment so that a determination regarding its safety for ground handling
/ flight operations can be made.
The final version of the
TEDP is submitted by each selected team six weeks prior to flight. It is considered a separate requirement for flight, and will contain more detailed analysis of the experiment than what is presented in the Experiment Safety
Evaluation portion submitted in the proposal.
 All sections should be addressed. If one or more sections are not applicable
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to the experiment, then state so. Do not, under any circumstances, omit a section.
The outreach section of the proposal will include the team's plan for disseminating the results of its experiment / experience to the general public. Points awarded to this section are worth 30% of the overall score total . Information contained in this section should focus on what outreach activities the team intends to do and what audience will be addressed.
Section Format Required Additional Information
OUTREACH
PLAN
Provide an overview of the team's plan for disseminating outreach activities and plans.
For maximum point value, the plan should include:
 Worth 30% of overall score total
 Websites need not be extensive at this point, but could introduce the team
 and its proposed experiment.
Note...posting your team's entire proposal to your website before



Team's objective in outreach activities
A website or a plan to design a website is mandatory!
Description of outreach audience.
 Specific plans for activities.
 selected teams are announced is not advised due to plagiarism concerns.
 Outreach plans must be original to your team. Do not attempt to copy outreach plans from previous proposals.
Please document any completed outreach presentations/activities
(classroom visits, community events, etc.) using our " Team Outreach Event
Log " http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.
gov/pdfs/Team_Outreach_Event_Log
Each selected flight team will also be required to complete a
3-5 minute video (Quicktime, iMovie, or Movie Maker) of their Reduced Gravity
Education Flight Program experience (including how the experiment was selected, hardware build-up, activities in Houston and results).
Details about the video will be given to teams after selections.

.pdf
(see Supporting Documents section at the end of this document).
Your plan will be strengthened by incorporating:
Specific plans and details (including names of schools, museums etc. to visit)
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 Letters or agreements from institutions who have accepted your invitation to address their group
 Creative and/or innovative approach
 for delivering activities
Development of a mentoring relationship



Reaching out to traditionally underserved or underrepresented communities. For example, a predominantly minority K-12 school, a predominantly minority college or university, and women's organizations.
A press plan.
Alignment of an activity that will help a K-12 teacher meet a state standard or teaching objective. Ask a teacher for guidance, or look on your state education website. Make sure you tell us what standard you are going to meet and describe briefly how.
Examples of outreach that scored well http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/pdf s/ExampleOfGoodOutreach.pdf
Example of how your proposal will be scored http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/pdf s/OutreachEval.pdf
The administrative section of the proposal contains a letter of support from the team's institution, statement of involvement from faculty advisor, evidence of a plan to acquire funding, etc.
Although this section is not awarded a point value per se, exclusion of these materials will affect the team's overall ranking when compared to more complete submissions. Additional information will be required if selected.
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Section
INSTITUTION'S
LETTER OF
ENDORSEMENT
Letter of endorsement on institution's letterhead
Format Required
STATEMENT OF
SUPERVISING
FACULTY
Statement on institution's letterhead which reads: "As the faculty advisor for an experiment entitled "__________________" proposed by a team of undergraduate students from ____________ university/college, I concur with the concepts and methods by which this experiment will be conducted. I will ensure that all reports and deadlines are completed by the student team members in a timely manner. I understand that any default by this team concerning any Program requirements
(including submission of final report materials) could adversely affect selection opportunities of future teams from
_____________ university/college."
Additional Information
 This letter, from institution president, dean of college or department chair, indicates that the team's institution has knowledge of the team's interest in competing in this program and endorses the team's participation.
 Teams will not be considered if their institution does not approve of their involvement.
 Submit with paper copy only!
 Statement of support from supervising faculty member indicates a willingness to supervise and work with the team during all stages of the competition.
 Supervising faculty
 must also sign-off on the cover of the proposal as evidence that he/she has seen the proposal and approves of its submission for competition.
Teams without a working faculty advisor will not be considered.
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MINORITY
INSTITUTION
DESIGNATION
FUNDING/
BUDGET
STATEMENT

Identify University as Minority
Servicing Institution or Community
College.

For institutions that serve a substantial
Hispanic enrollment but have not been designated as an HSI or MI by the US
Department of Education, please submit documentation that your full-time
Hispanic enrollment is at least 25 percent of your total enrollment.
Any simple columnar layout showing expected expenditures associated with: equipment (building, operating, testing, shipping); transportation to/from Houston; accommodations/food/transportation in
Houston, etc. Potential sources for funding should be included.
 Submit with paper copy only!


Examples would be
Historically Black
Colleges and
Universities
(HBCU), Tribal
Colleges and
Universities (TCU),
Hispanic Servicing
Institutions (HSI), or
Community College
HSI designation documents should be on institutional letterhead.
 No monetary award is given to teams selected to participate in this program; therefore, it
 is imperative that a team anticipate costs involved and work to seek funding.
Potential sources of funding include: institution, State
Space Grant, corporate sponsors etc.
EXPERIMENTS
INVOLVING
ANIMALS
If you choose an invertebrate experiment, please provide the following information in the proposal:
 Information on the test animal's life cycle
 Procurement of animal
 Transport of animal
 Storage of animal
 Proposals which involve experimentation on vertebrate animals will not be considered.
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 Experimental conditions & procedures
 Post-flight activities
 Disposition
Please make yourself familiar with the following documents as you prepare to submit your proposal:
 Technical Evaluation Form (PDF) http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/pdfs/KCtecheval.pdf
 Outreach Evaluation Form (PDF) http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/pdfs/OutreachEval.pdf
 Fast Facts http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/theProposal/documents/Fast%20Facts%20Rev
%20B.pdf
 Experiment Design Requirements and Guidelines AOD 33897 http://jsc-aircraft-ops.jsc.nasa.gov/Reduced_Gravity/docs/AOD_33897.pdf
 Interface Control Document ZGC-ICD http://jsc-aircraft-ops.jsc.nasa.gov/Reduced_Gravity/docs/ZG-InterfaceControlDoc-
RevA2.pdf
(to be completed for selected teams –
THIS IS NOT REQUIRED FOR THE PROPOSAL)
Please note there are two primary exceptions to the users guide for student experiments.
1.
The weight limit for test equipment is 300 pounds and the maximum volume is 24" X 60"
X 60".
2.
If teams wish to utilize free-floating test equipment , they should be aware of the following:
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a.
Free-floating hardware should weigh less than 50 pounds and measure less than b.
24" on a side (assuming a cube).
Only two free-float experiments will be flown each flight week (one on Tues/Wed and one on Thurs/Fri.)
OPTIONAL: Teams can utilize a program glovebox with the following restrictions: The weight limit for test equipment is 18.14 kg (40 pounds). Experiments MUST be designed to fit into one of two types of gloveboxes provided by the program. o o
40 inches in length by 26.75 inches in depth by 27.75 inches in height or
30 inches long by 26.75 inches in depth by 40 inches tall
 JSC Reduced Gravity Program Users Guide AOD 33899 ( http://jsc-aircraftops.jsc.nasa.gov/Reduced_Gravity/docs/AOD_33899.pdf
)
 TEDP Requirements Guidelines AOD 33896 ( http://jsc-aircraftops.jsc.nasa.gov/Reduced_Gravity/docs/AOD_33896.pdf
)
 Preparation of Stress Analysis Reports
( http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/theProposal/documents/Preparation%20of%20Stres s%20Analysis%20Reports%20%288594001%29.pdf
)
 RGO Hazard Analysis
( http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/theProposal/documents/RGOHAZARDANALYSIS.pdf
)
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